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A big, broad, rounded flip phone (3.8 by 2.0 by 0.7 inches, HWD), the 3.6-ounce Knack is easy to open and close. On the outside, there's a small monochrome, 96-by-96-pixel clock and caller ID display. Flip the phone open to find unusually large, backlit number keys and a big 176-by-220-pixel color screen with huge, easy-to-read fonts.

Verizon equips the Knack with a stripped-down menu system with six simple entries: Contacts, Recent Calls, Messaging, Tools, Settings, and Info. Dedicated buttons dial 911 and an emergency number you program, and in addition trigger the speakerphone and voice dialing. The only thing even the most technophobic might struggle with is entering names into the contact bookand that's still very easy to do. As simple as this phone may be, I still wish Verizon had implemented a feature like the one on the Samsung Jitterbug where you mail your contacts to be programmed remotely.

Since it's a basic phone, voice quality is paramountand the Knack delivers. The handset has even better reception than our previous Editors' Choice winner for voice phones on Verizon, the LG VX5400. Calls sounded very good. The Knack's earpiece gets quite loud, though there is a bit of distortion at top volumes. I also found a lot of in-ear feedback of your own voice, which is appealing to some people. The speakerphone has adequate volume and works with the flip closed. Transmissions sounded a bit thready but decent; some background noise came through onto our calls.

The phone's default ringtone sounds like an old bell-ring phonenot spectacularly loud but acceptableand there are 22 others ringtones to choose from. The vibrate function is powerful and a little noisy. We got 4 hours 15 minutes of talk time on a single battery charge, solidly in the "good enough" range. Worth noting as well is that the Knack is compatible with M4 and T4 hearing aids.

This streamlined handset features a 2.5mm wired headset jack and Nuance's Voice Signal voice-dialing system, which is very accurate and does not require voice training. The phone doesn't support Bluetooth headsets, which is a disappointment. With hands-free driving laws becoming more widespread, Bluetooth is a must, even for voice-only users.

You can customize the phone's wallpaper to one of eight preloaded images. Text messaging, an alarm clock, and a stopwatch are buried under the Tools menu, but otherwise, the phone is fairly devoid of other features. There's no downloadable anything, no GPS, no media players, no games, and no picture messaging. Again, this phone is all about voice.

When it comes to simplicity, the Knack places second only to Samsung's own Jitterbug, but it's available on Verizon Wireless with a variety of calling plans, whereas the Jitterbug is offered through GreatCall, a small company that uses Sprint's network. The Knack easily surpasses the Verizon Wireless Coupe, which ,while aimed at seniors, isn't simple to use. Slightly more advanced users will prefer the LG VX5400, a somewhat smaller phone with top-notch voice quality, which is also uncomplicated but supports Bluetooth, picture messaging, and the mobile Web. The Samsung Knack SCH-U310 gets its voice-only point across with beautiful clarity. For that, we give it our Editors' Choice for a voice phone on Verizon Wireless.

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About the Author

PCMag.com's lead mobile analyst, Sascha Segan, has reviewed hundreds of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets in more than 13 years with PCMag. He's the head of our Fastest Mobile Networks project, hosts our One Cool Thing daily Web show, and writes opinions on tech and society.
Segan is also a multiple award-winning travel writer. Other than ... See Full Bio

Samsung Knack SCH-U310

Samsung Knack SCH-U310

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